Just like Obi-Wan Kenobi’s description of The Force, food trends surround us. Eating across the country as we do, it’s clear that the golden age of bowls is upon us. What happened, America? Were we tired of plates? Or was it just the fear of gluten? Whatever the reason, the proliferation of bowls has arrived full force in Los Angeles: poke (you say pokey, I say pokay), bibimbap as fast food, açaí fruit bowls that make it okay to eat frozen yogurt for breakfast, quality ramen joints, and of course, Sqirl’s worth-the-long-line sorrel pesto rice bowl. Long before bowl-as-meal-vessel fever took reign of Angelenos’ appetites, a number of sushi places were serving chirashi or kaisen don, a bowl of rice topped with sashimi and other ingredients. One of the better sashimi bowl spots in town is Murakami Sushi.

Yes, they’ll make you sushi here, but first a warning: if you wanna stay in the world of cheap eats, stick to one of the bowls (which range from $12-20). We usually ask them to top ours off with their garlic soy sauce. The à la carte nigiri sushi is pretty good here but gets expensive quick, just like most other sushi spots. The fish here ranges from decent (the salmon) to very good (halibut, albacore, mackerel). Is this the most mind-blowing sushi experience you can have in Los Angeles? No. Is it a reliably good spot for scratching our itch for fish and rice that won’t make our credit card weep? Absolutely.

Food Rundown

Number SIX

While you can certainly put together a bowl piecemeal, ordering one of the existing bowls saves you a couple bucks. This bowl is rice and sliced cucumbers, topped with tuna, salmon, yellowtail, albacore, crab, shrimp, eel, and avocado. It’s a terrific lunch that won’t throw you into a food coma upon returning to the office. For $5, they’ll also throw in a healthy portion of remarkably good sea urchin.

Mixed Bowl

This is the standout bargain. $12 gets you a bowl of rice topped with tuna, salmon, yellowtail, albacore, and shrimp.

Mini Green Salad

For $2.50, you can level-up your bowl and get a salad, too. The greens are a step classier than you’d expect for the price.

Eel Bowl

Just eel and rice. Which will have you feeling nice. At a deal of a price. #LyricalPyro #MyMixtapeIsFire

Baked Crab Handroll

Pricey at $8 each, these rice paper-covered, broiled crabmeat handrolls are a terrific splurge. (We prefer them to the original Katsu-Ya’s up in Studio City.) As for the other sushi rolls on offer here, skip the rolls and stick to the bowls.

Mixed Sashimi Salad

Healthy and delicious. Topped with shrimp, tuna, yellowtail, salmon, and albacore, this $12 salad is a substantial value. Also fairly healthy, which is nice if you care about things. Yourself, for instance.

Shishito

The shishito peppers here, fried and then tossed in a garlic sauce, are not The Shins in Garden State, so they will not change your life. But they are The Shins in that when they turn up on a playlist, they’re comforting and pleasing to the senses.

Cucumber Sunomono

Clean slivers of cucumber dressed in sugary vinegar and sesame seeds. So fresh and so clean. Sure it feels kinda bare bones without the crabmeat or octopus served with it elsewhere, but it’s good for you and tasty.

Agedashi Tofu

As a rule, we adore agedashi tofu. Here, topped with a couple tempura-fried shishito peppers, it’s decent and filling.

Crispy Rice With Spicy Tuna

We love this dish elsewhere, but here it’s a dud that barely suits its name. The rice is a deep fried rectangle that is chewy instead of crispy, and the spicy tuna is lacking in both flavor and spiciness.

OMG Roll

Murakami’s tempura is pretty good, but in this roll, it feels less OMG and more just merely OK.